


crow age

by someonesaveme



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, Karasuno, Mage Tsukishima, Multi, No pairings decided yet, basically all of them show up at some point, elf yamaguchi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:30:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9315569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someonesaveme/pseuds/someonesaveme
Summary: Tsukishima Kei is an apostate living in the Kocari Wilds with his long time friend. The army is gathering at Ostagar to drive off the recent darkspawn invasion and he’d planned to the hell stay out of it. Let’s just say things don’t go exactly as planned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I realize this may make little sense to people who haven’t played Dragon Age: Origins or know about the games. I’m sorry :( I think you can still read it and enjoy it if you like, but some of the references may fly over your head. I actually find that wikipedia and other online sources do a pretty good job at explaining the background if you want to know about it. I also recommend the game to people who are considering it, it’s bad animation because its so old, but the story and the characters more than make up for it.
> 
> Also, I tried to keep them all in character but since the universe is more violent and agressive than the actual HQ!! one, I made their personalities more aggressive and battle-ready too. Still, it's obvious which ones are more aggressive and which ones are less.

~~~

Tsukishima eyed the group in front of him with narrowed eyes.

It was odd, he’d never seen scouts come out this far into the Kocari Wilds. Not even with the war happening nearby. Nor did they ever pay such close attention to any of the old ruins the forest was riddled with. And besides, these guys didn’t act like scouts. Scouts scouted. These people had gotten themselves tangled up in no less than seven fights with darkspawn since they entered the dense forest when they could have just as well hidden or run. They were also rummaging around an awful lot, turning things over and the like. It was pretty clear that they were digging around for something specific.

And wait, was that--?

“An elf,” Yamaguchi breathed beside him, also having noticed that the mystery party’s pale-haired archer’s ears were just a little too pointed to be human.

“They have an elf in their party?” Yamaguchi asked, tilting his head up to look at his partner, “And he’s armed too.”

Tsukishima grunted in response. He was tempted to remind his friend that he had told him that he should wait back at the cottage, but he didn’t. It was pointless anyways; he knew he would just be given a sheepish apology and then be promptly ignored. Gone were the times when Yamaguchi would shrink away at the first sign of danger. Nowadays he preferred to run headfirst into it, a fact that irked Tsukishima to no end. It wasn’t like Yamaguchi ever had to deal with his own injuries after all was said and done. No, no, that job _always_ fell to Tsukishima.

“They’re looking for something,” Tsukishima murmured. He moved over so Yamaguchi could crouch down next to him.

“In the old warden hide-out? That place is cleared out and abandoned though, what could they want in there?”

The old warden hide-out?

Oh, right. Now that Tsukishima thought about it, that ruin did used to be a warden base. Tsukishima remembered how Yamaguchi would drag him over to the abandoned castle, right after wardens had first left, and had made him play-pretend that they were real Grey Wardens off to save Ferelden.

Tsukishima hadn’t seen this place for years though. It was all broken down and dirty now. There used to be an arch at the doorway, he remembered. Now there was just pile of rubble at the entrance. Sad, but expected. The Kocari Wilds flooded at least twice a month in the spring and summer seasons and the harsh weather was nothing to sneeze at.

“Well, whatever they’re looking for, they’re poking around awfully close to the cottage,” Yamaguchi said, untying the sash that held his spear in place, “We’ll need to chase them off, right Tsukki?”

Tsukishima was about to respond when suddenly a realization hit him. He grabbed Yamaguchi’s arm and stopped him from readying his weapon.

The old warden hide-out.

An armed elf in their party.

Fighting darkspawn without so much as a pause.

And not to mention, working in the vicinity of a suspected Blight.

Tsukishima groaned. Of course that’s what they were, that took an embarrassingly long time to figure out. These guys weren’t a scouting party, they were...

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked, “Figure something out?”

“Grey Wardens,” Tsukishima replied, “It’s a party of Grey Wardens. Put that away, if we don’t bother them they probably won’t bother us.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened comically.

“Really? Are they really Grey Wardens?!”

“Shhhh, idiot,” Tsukishima hissed, “They’ll hear us.”

An arrow flew right into Yamaguchi’s shoulder and Tsukishima knew his warning had come too late.

“An attack? At this distance?” Tsukishima breathed out in disbelief as he rushed over to Yamaguchi’s side and pried his hand away from the injury.

As soon as he got a look at the wound, Tsukishima immediately threw up a shield and started to chant a healing spell. Damn whoever had shot at them. Damn them and their monster strength. The arrow had gone right through Yamaguchi’s shoulder, the head of it was peeking out the other side. There was no way he could be moved with an open wound like that, he’d die of blood loss before ever reaching their cottage. Tsukishima knew he would need more time and herbs to properly clean and close the injury, but right now he could at least get the arrow out and stop the bleeding. Then, he could use a bit of magic to distract the mystery wardens as he escaped with Yamaguchi.

This was doable. He could do this.

Tsukishima had just worked the arrow out of Yamaguchi’s shoulder and had almost had the bleeding under control when he felt his shield collapse. The magic he was pouring out into Yamaguchi’s wound to stitch it up cut short too and Tsukishima suddenly felt as if his heart was being crushed. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move.

He’d know this feeling anywhere.

“A templar,” Tsukishima growled lowly. He quickly tried to collect himself.

Yamaguchi heard him and immediately tried to shove Tsukishima away.

“Go, Tsukki. I’ll be right behind you. You have to get out of here.”

But one look at Yamaguchi’s pain-glazed eyes and Tsukishima knew he was lying. He could hear the Grey Wardens approaching as they spoke and without his magic...

“Forget it, Yamaguchi. Even if one of us stayed behind, we’d never get away in time.”

“But Tsukki--”

“Shut up. Just. Shut up and put pressure on that wound.”

Tsukishima ripped off a piece of his robe and pushed it onto Yamaguchi’s wound. His friend groaned at the contact but, for once, obediently did as he was told.

“Here they come,” Tsukishima announced, hearing the footsteps get louder, “Let me do the talking, you just press down on that.”

“Who’s there?” came a childish voice followed by loud, rapid footsteps.

“Hey, wait! Hinata!” a sweet sounding voice with a hint of an accent called out.

A few seconds later, a shock of red-hair was in Tsukishima’s face and Tsukishima himself was on the floor and out of breath. He was pinned under whoever it was that just knocked the breath out of him. He heard a thud to his right and turned his head towards it.

A giant hammer. Whoever just tackled him had just smashed a giant hammer into the ground mere inches from his head. So much for talking things through.

“Who are you? You’re not darkspawn,” the boy (boy? man? he was awfully small for a man if that was the case) asked. This time, there was no anger in his voice, just genuine curiosity.

“Hey, you’re human! What’s your name?”

“Are you kidding me?!” Tsukishima sputtered in disbelief, “You shoot at us, tackle me to the ground, almost smash my head in, and now you’re asking me my name?”

In the back of his mind, Tsukishima could hear his voice of reason telling him that it probably wasn’t a good idea to antagonize the boy who had him pinned defenselessly to the floor.

“Well, I thought you were darkspawn...”

“You don’t say,” Tsukishima sneered, firmly ignoring his voice of reason. This kid pissed him off just by breathing. Somehow something about him didn’t _feel_ too dangerous either, though Tsukishima’s defenses were still very definitely up.

“Wha-HEY! Don’t make fun of me! I’m gonna be a Grey Warden, you know! A hero!”

Tsukishima wondered if this kid knew he didn’t have to scream every word out loud like that. He could hear him. Everything within a 20 mile radius could hear him.

“Oh?” he snapped back, “You’re out of luck there, kid. I don’t think the Grey Wardens hire toddlers.”

“I’m not a kid! I’m seventeen years old!”

“Sevente--”

“Yep! How old are you?” the apparently-not-a-kid asked Tsukishima tauntingly.

Newly turned sixteen. But there was no way Tsukishima was about to tell this guy that.

“Alright already. Fine, short-stack, you’re not a kid. Want to get off me now that you’ve confirmed that _I’m_ not a darkspawn?”

“Short-stack?!”

“Hinata!” the sweet voice said from behind short-stack, “Let him up. This is not how a Grey Warden should conduct themselves.”

“But, Suga!”

“Off, Hinata.”

Tsukishima peered over ‘Hinata’s’ shoulder and saw that the command had come from the pale-haired elf he’d noticed before. Another one in their party, a bald human, was helping (or attempting to help) a resistant Yamaguchi off the ground. His attempts to get Yamaguchi up must’ve jostled something though because Yamaguchi suddenly cried out and grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey!” Tsukishima yelled, futilely trying to throw Hinata off of him, “Don’t touch him, he’s injured!”

Hinata seemed shocked, if unaffected physically, by the sudden outburst of his prisoner and quickly hopped off Tsukishima.

“Hey, hey! Okay, I’m off. Relax, Ser Tanaka was just trying to help.”

Tsukishima quickly scrambled to Yamaguchi’s side. The bald one backed off easily enough and gave Tsukishima access to his injured friend. Tsukishima began chanting a healing spell only to have his magic short out at his fingertips.

Right. The templar.

“So you’re the apostate,” a serious sounding voice growled from behind Tsukishima. A shadow suddenly loomed over him.

“Kageyama…” the elf, Suga, warned. But he was ignored, the Templar’s shadow didn’t move an inch.

Tsukishima turned his head and looked up to see an angry pair of deep blue eyes staring down at him. The man they belonged to, Kageyama presumably, was tall and obviously muscular. He had dark, floppy black hair that somehow fell in a way that only made him look angrier. There was also a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder. Tsukishima immediately recognized the arrows in the quiver--they were the same as the one he’d just pulled from Yamaguchi’s shoulder a few minutes ago.

“And I guess that makes _you_ the templar,” Tsukishima practically snarled, “Want to give me my magic back so I can heal up my friend?”

‘Kageyama’ made a face at him and turned his head to Suga. Tsukishima did too. It was easy enough to see who was in charge around here--the others clearly deferred to the elf with the long, silver hair and the sweet voice. If Yamaguchi weren’t delirious from pain and blood loss, Tsukishima imagined he’d love this. He’d probably revere this Suga. After all, an elf in charge wasn’t something you see every day.

“Now, now,” Suga said, placing himself directly between Kageyama and Tsukishima, “Let’s have some answers first. I am Sugawara Koushi, a senior Gray Warden and vice-captain to the Ferelden Gray Wardens. We’re here to collect some valuables the Wardens lost and to collect some ingredients for our upcoming Joining. And you two are?”

Tsukishima balked at the thought of giving this guy his name. Names held power. But there wasn’t time to argue.

“Tsukishima. He’s Yamaguchi. We don’t belong to any army or company. I need my magic back to heal him or he’s not going to make it.”

Suga looked contemplative. He wanted to say yes, but Tsukishima was an unknown apostate. And not a half-baked one either, if what Kageyama told him was true.

Tsukishima saw his internal battle and decided to swallow his dignity a little and butter the guy up. This was Yamaguchi’s life at stake, after all. Grey Wardens wouldn’t arrest them, but Tsukishima knew that they wouldn’t hesitate to let his friend bleed out and would probably kill him too if they felt that’s what would keep their precious order, and its newest members, safe.

“Please let me help him,” Tsukishima addressed the Grey Warden group, forcing his voice to soften up.

Suga just kept looking at him, contemplating it, and Tsukishima could no longer stand the silence. He was barely holding in his panic. And, quite frankly, he was a bit embarrassed. The already had him on the floor and practically begging. What more did they want?

“Look,” Tsukishima said, sneer back in place, “Let me heal him. It’s what? Five of you? Against one of me? _And_ you’ve got your pet Templar. Just how dumb do you think I am? I won’t attack you, for Maker’s sake.

Still, there was no answer. Tsukishima felt the blood gushing from Yamaguchi’s wound and decided to play one last card.

“Just let me heal my friend and I’ll even make it worth your while.”

“…worth my while?”

Figures that that’d be what got Suga to open his mouth. Tsukishima gritted his teeth, angry that it had come down to this, before continuing.

“Yeah, you guys were looking for something, right? Something in that castle? Well, let me tell you what, it’s emptied out. Mostly by me. And if I didn’t take it, then raid parties and robbers did and good luck finding any of them. Your best bet at finding whatever the hell you were looking for is with me.”

Yamaguchi whined in pain and Tsukishima resisted the urge to chant a healing spell. He settled for pulling Yamaguchi closer to him so that the other boy could lean on him instead of trying to support his own weight.

“But,” Tsukishima practically said as calmly as he could, glaring directly at Suga, “If he dies, I’ll _never_ tell you where I put it. It’s all right in my cottage, but have fun locating that without me. You’ll need it. It’s hexed and hidden to hell and back.”

Honestly, Tsukishima didn’t relish the idea of letting these strange, armed men who were basically part of a cult anywhere near his hiding spot, but…. The situation was way past reservations. Tsukishima _had_ to get them to agree to give him back his magic

Hearing the offer, Suga immediately grabbed Kageyama and dragged him a few feet back. The two started whispering frantically.

The baldie, Ser Tanaka is what Hinata had called him, and another warrior, shorter than Tsukishima but was still absolutely humongous with a helmet covering his entire face, wordlessly took guard around Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Hinata plopped to the floor and stared at Tsukishima, obviously wanting to ask something. Tsukishima ignored him and continued to watch Suga argue with Kageyama. The two of them were clearly considering his proposal. Being a Templar, Tsukishima imagined Kageyama was arguing against it. The last call went to Suga however, and from where Tsukishima sat it looked like the older Grey Warden was all for the idea so Tsukishima was feeling hopeful.

“Here are your heroes of old, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima almost muttered, “About to consort with someone they consider the equivalent of a demon in order to get their hands on whatever shiny treasure they were looking for. The _mighty_ Grey Wardens.”

 _Almost_. But he didn’t say it. In truth, Yamaguchi’s obsession with the Grey Wardens was… endearing. How his friend could still believe in heroes in this day and age, Tsukishima would never know. It was silly and he had to know that he’d be let down eventually. Yamaguchi’s seen more than enough of the world to know what it was like nowadays. But Tsukishima supposed that never-give-up brand of optimism was part of what made Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi.

He was all Tsukishima had anymore.

“Shit,” Tsukishima _did_ mutter this time.

Yamaguchi hummed softly and looked up at him with bleary, confused eyes.

“Situation’s getting to me,” Tsukishima explained, “You know, this is your fault for yelling so damn loud.”

“…sorry, Tsukki…” Yamaguchi said with a sheepish grin (well, as much of one as he could manage at the moment).

“Just shut up,” Tsukishima mumbled back.

Tsukishima pulled Yamaguchi closer to him when he started to shiver in his arms.

Crap, he was losing way too much blood. They had officially run out of time.

“I meant what I said!” Tsukishima yelled at Suga and Kageyama, “I’ll let whatever precious treasure you’re looking for _rot_ along with that cottage if he dies! So you wanna decide a bit faster or what?!”

The Templar sent a glare over to Tsukishima but his attention was forcefully yanked back by Suga, who had ignored the yelling. Hinata panicked though, jumping up.

“But!” he whined, “We’re looking for treaties! I don’t really get it but they’re _super_ important and Captain Daichi said we need them to save the world!”

“Wow, sounds super important alright,” Tsukishima deadpanned, “Guess you better tell your friends to move it, huh?”

Hinata hopped up from his spot and ran towards the whispering duo.

“Stupid Kageyama, haven’t you decided yet?!”

~~~

In the end, Suga had put his foot down and ordered Kageyama to return Tsukishima’s magic. Reluctantly, the Templar did. Tsukishima didn’t bother thanking him--not that he’d ever been planning to. Instead, he’d moved right to healing Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima was able to stop the bleeding and the wound was closed up enough that Yamaguchi could make the trip home without worry of it ripping open, but the pain was definitely still there and the blood loss could only truly be fixed with time. Yamaguchi was still wobbly and weak and it was obviously hard for him to keep up. The sooner they got home though, the sooner Tsukishima could finish the job properly. Yamaguchi would have to hang on until then.

“This way then,” Tsukishima said to the group, getting up and helping a more-or-less healed Yamaguchi to his feet.

“Wow, already?” Suga exclaimed, “You do quick work!”

Tsukishima kept walking and said nothing, choosing instead to use his energy on silently leading the way while keeping an eye on Yamaguchi’s wound until he could be sure it wouldn’t open up again. He had agreed to give the Warden’s their stuff back and he would, but he had no intention of making small talk with the people who, not even an hour ago, tried to have him killed.

Yamaguchi, apparently, had no such reservations.

“Yeah, Tsukki’s pretty amazing! I’ve seen him heal wounds in minutes! He’s super proficient at it. Oh, and he knows pretty much every herb there is to know too! Ah, I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi, by the way. Good to meet you.”

“That’s incredible,” Suga said.

“Yamaguchi, shut up,” Tsukishima muttered at the same time.

“Sorry, Tsukki!”

“Why are you so happy about that anyways? It’s always _your_ wounds I’m healing.”

“Haha, sorry, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima clicked his tongue.

“Anyways, what are you doing talking to the enemy?” Tsukishima continued.

“Huh? They aren’t really enemies though…” Yamaguchi said, looking confused.

“They shot at us!”

“W-well, I’m sure they just thought we were darkspawn…”

“Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said exasperatedly, “They were about to let you bleed out on the floor. _After_ they had confirmed you weren’t darkspawn, might I add.”

“W-well, I mean…”

Tsukishima sighed and turned his head forward, effectively ending the conversation. He knew what Yamaguchi would say. He knew his friend idolized the Grey Wardens. Even back when he first met Yamaguchi, when they were children, the boy had wanted to join the Wardens. Tsukishima figured that nothing he said would get through to Yamaguchi, not on this. Better to cut the conversation short before one of them got all worked up. Yamaguchi wanted to trust these Wardens? Fine, he could do whatever he wanted. Tsukishima wasn’t about to give them an inch though and he was going to make sure that they were gone the second they found what they wanted. He was not about to have bloodthirsty strangers crawling around the place where he lived for longer than necessary.

They would find their treaties, they would leave, and that would be the end of that.

“We wouldn’t have let you guys die though,” Hinata said, jarring Tsukishima from his train of thought, “We would have helped you.”

Hinata was looking up at Tsukishima with wide, almost creepy eyes. Tsukishima didn’t even think the wannabe Warden (because he was absolutely sure Hinata was one of the new recruits) was blinking.

“We’re heroes,” Hinata continued, sounding totally and unquestioningly sure of himself, “We save people and hunt darkspawn.”

Tsukishima finally broke himself away from those weird-ass eyes to reply. The surety in the shorty’s voice pissed him off. Heroes?

“Well, if that’s the case then you guys cut it awful close,” Tsukishima shot back, “And don’t think I missed you trying to take credit there. _You_ saved us? _You_ healed Yamaguchi, did you?”

The shrimp fell silent at that, wrestling for a reply. Tsukishima scoffed.

“You guys didn’t help jack squat, we helped ourselves,” Tsukishima continued, “And might I remind you that neither of us would have needed help to begin with if your merry little gang hadn’t attacked us.”

The tone of finality in his voice ended the conversation then and there. There was no response to that and Tsukishima knew it. Everything he’d said was a fact. Yamaguchi had almost bled out on the ground, courtesy of the Grey Wardens.

And Tsukishima almost couldn’t do anything about it.

Suddenly, Tsukishima was very aware that he had Yamaguchi’s blood practically caked on his clothes. It was drying out and it itched like hell.

He was also now very aware of the crowd behind him. Five warriors. Five Grey Wardens, the most feared fighters in Ferelden. And to top it all off, there was a Templar among them. He was an escaped apostate mage and he was willingly bringing a Templar to his home, the place he’d set up specifically to hide from Templars.

Tsukishima briefly wondered if he was out of his mind.

And yet the alternative was no less insane. The only other way out at this point would be to fight all the Wardens off, and that was practically a death wish for both him and Yamaguchi. At least with option one, there was a chance they’d be allowed to live. At the very least, they’d probably leave Yamaguchi alone.

If they captured Tsukishima, well, so be it. There was a reason he’d been so adamant about learning shapeshifting—it made escaping from tight spots much easier. So long as he could catch that Templar off his guard at some point…

“Hey,” Hinata said, jarring Tsukishima for the second time, “You’ve been glaring at Kageyama for a while now. You guys have history or something?”

Tsukishima glared and opted to say nothing. Was this guy serious?

“Your servant’s been shooting him looks too. What’s up with that? Is it because he shot at you guys?”

Ah, so he _did_ have that damned Templar to thank for the arrow in Yamaguchi shoulder.

Wait…what?

“What?” Tsukishima turned to Hinata and asked, “My _servant_? What on Earth are you going off about, shrimp? I don’t have a—“

Suddenly, realization hit Tsukishima hard in the gut. He barely held himself back from hexing the shrimp.

“Yeah you do,” Hinata said, wrinkling up his nose, “Your friend over there. Though I got to say, you guys have the weirdest servant-master relationship ever.”

Tsukishima froze up.

“Hey,” Hinata whined, “Why’d you stop walking?”

The group behind them stopped as well and honed in on the conversation. Suga pushed past Ser Tanaka, ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi called out, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Hinata said back, “I just asked why you guys were staring at Kageyama and he got all weird.”

Tsukishima almost opened his mouth to snap back when Yamaguchi put a hand on his shoulder from behind him. That stopped Tsukishima cold.

“Tsukki? You okay?” Yamaguchi asked, sounding concerned.

Tsukishima shook off the urge to cause a scene. That’d do nothing. Idiots like the shrimp wouldn’t even get it either. He’d never have to see these people again anyways so cares what they thought?

“Yeah,” Tsukishima said, trying to keep the acid out of his voice as best as he could, “I’m fine.”

No one was convinced.

“Are you sure, Tsukki? We can rest, if you want. You used up a lot of your magic to…”

“I said that I’m _fine_ ,” Tsukishima insisted. He shrugged Yamaguchi’s hand off and pushed forward.

The group looked confused for a moment but ultimately must have decided not to ask further. They quickly fell back into formation. Yamaguchi was once again making easy conversation with Suga. The helmeted warrior, who’d been silent until now, was listening in. Ser Tanaka was chatting up Kageyama.

And to Tsukishima’s dismay, Hinata was still walking next to him.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Hinata asked.

“No,” Tsukishima snapped back.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to answer.”

“But—“

“I’m done talking to you, shrimp. Go annoy someone else.”

“That’s unfair,” Hinata complained, “I’m going to go ask your servant then, he’ll probably answer.”

Tsukishima flinched at the word ‘servant’ but once again bit his tongue.

It didn’t matter what the shrimp thought. It didn’t matter what any of them thought. In fact, the more they got wrong, the better. The less they knew about him and Yamaguchi the better.

“He seems way too sweet to hang out with you. Bet a jerk like you doesn’t even pay him well.”

Tsukishima refused to rise to that easy bait. He said nothing.

“I hate guys like you,” Hinata hissed, sounding more and more agitated with every word, “You take advantage of elves because you can and treat them like objects!”

He refused to rise to it, he refused to rise to it.

“Well,” Hinata said, practically shaking with the fury of being so rudely disregarded, “I thought maybe there was some good in you, but I guess I was wrong! A jerk like you could only be using an elf! You’re just like those guys back at camp! You people treat them like slaves! _You_ treat _him_ like a slave! When I finally become a Grey Warden, the first thing I’ll do is come back and free that elf from you, you watch!”

He screamed the accusations like he had been waiting to say them for a long time, and maybe he had been.

Tsukishima wouldn’t have been surprised if the entire valley heard what Hinata had just said. Yamaguchi certainly heard it if the way he froze mid-step was anything to go by. Wide-eyed, Yamaguchi turned to his friend for answers.

And Tsukishima practically heard himself snap.

Hinata barely dodged the jet of fire aimed at his shoulder. He wasn’t fast enough to fully dodge it completely though and it grazed his arm. Tsukishima’s flames tended to be smaller and weaker than other mages on his level, but they were nothing to scoff at--especially if they managed to hit. Hinata’s thin leather armor melted away and the fire made contact with skin before Hinata could jump out of the way.

Hearing Hinata’s yelp of pain, Tsukishima immediately cut off the attack.

“You can attack me all you want, I won’t back down! I’m not leaving that poor elf to a jerk like you!” Hinata screamed after the flames stopped.

Whatever sense that had just returned to Tsukishima flew away just like that.

“Elf, elf, elf. _I_ treat him like an object?! You can’t even be bothered to remember his name, you half-wit!” Tsukishima roared.

As Tsukishima spoke, Hinata went for his hammer, ignoring Suga’s order to stop. He swung down as hard as he could at Tsukishima’s head, but was too slow. Tsukishima had already thrown up a shield and Hinata’s weapon slid clean off causing him to lose his balance and fall to his knees.

Tsukishima swung his fist at the warrior, abandoning his magic in part because he had lost all of his marbles and in part because he realized, even in his crazed state, that killing the boy in front of his would be very bad. His hit landed, but Tsukishima realized too late that he had both underestimated and overestimated Hinata—underestimated his strength and overestimated his intelligence. The dimwit was stronger than he looked.

Hinata somehow managed to lift his humongous war hammer one-handedly and was swinging in for the kill. Tsukishima didn’t have time to throw up a strong enough shield. The one he had up would shatter. Tsukishima readied his healing spells and braced for impact.

But none came.

The blunt end of a spear, Yamaguchi’s spear, smashed into Hinata’s chest and he was blown back a good two feet, skidding all the way. When he finally came to a stop, he opened his eyes to the non-blunt end of Yamaguchi’s spear pointing right at him, hovering dangerously close to his left eye.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi called to Tsukishima in a worried voice. He didn’t bother to move the spear either.

“I’m fine, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said numbly, embarrassed at the turn of events.

Yamaguchi’s posture softened at that. He set down the spear and stepped away from Hinata slowly and calmly, allowing the helmeted warrior to take his place in order to he check the tiny Warden over.

“Look,” Tsukishima began to say to the Wardens, but was cut off by Yamaguchi.

“I appreciate the thought, Tsukki, but I don’t _need_ standing up for.”

Tsukishima sensed that Yamaguchi had more to say besides that and wisely decided to let his friend finish.

Unfortunately, Hinata didn’t have that kind of foresight.

“What gives?” Hinata asked after being propped up by his helmeted friend, “I was just trying to help you…”

“Maybe you should talk to me first and make sure I actually need help instead of running around making a huge mess of things,” Yamaguchi snapped back.

Hinata winced. It didn’t stop Yamaguchi at all. Tsukishima didn’t remember the last time Yamaguchi had gotten so worked up. Then again, it’s been a long time since he’d been called a slave too…

“Don’t assume that you know anything about me. Or Tsukki,” Yamaguchi continued, “I’m not his-his… _slave_. I’m his friend. I’m his _friend!_ Don’t you call me that-that…. You don’t even know, do you? How actual elven servants—how the real slaves—are treated? How they’re used and tossed aside like they mean nothing? Do you think a regular old shem would’ve healed me? Do you? You think an escaped mage would enslave others? Do you know anything about what you’re talking about? Of course not. All I am is an elf to a human soldier like you, someone for you to rescue. I’m some adventure to you. _What do you know_?!”

Yamaguchi screamed the last bit and gripped his spear so tight his entire arm shook with the effort of it. The entire party fell silent. In the corner of his eye, Tsukishima saw the helmeted warrior put a hand on his sword.

Tsukishima knew he should be doing something. He should explain himself to the Wardens. He should be offering some comfort. He should tell Yamaguchi to calm down before it all got out of hand, but couldn’t find the words. He was about to just grab Yamaguchi and force him to step back before these Wardens decided to off both of them when Suga spoke up.

“Okay,” Suga said in a calming voice, “Okay, we understand. Now please calm down before I we have to do something drastic. You too, Hinata. You went too far and assumed too much. I keep telling you that Gray Wardens _do not_ meddle in the business of others.”

Now that Tsukishima was looking at him, he realized that Suga was holding Kageyama and Ser Tanaka back. That must have been why he hadn’t felt his magic cut out like before, now that he thought about it.

“Suga,” the helmeted warrior at Hinata’s side said, “Hinata’s hurt. This is hardly the time to lecture…”

“He’s a Gray Warden and that wound is nothing. Can you stand, Hinata?” Suga asked.

Hinata immediately stopped groaning and looked at his commanding officer. He nodded once and then slowly pushed himself up, refusing the helmeted warrior’s help.

“Well then,” Tsukishima said, watching Hinata get on his feet and strap his war hammer back on, “Let’s get moving. We want to get you guys out of the Wilds before dark, right?”

“Yeah, we do,” Yamaguchi said.

Tsukishima groaned. He’d recognize that tone anywhere. Yamaguchi ducked his eyes when Tsukishima turned to look at him and, well, that just confirmed it.

Yamaguchi was upset with him. And Tsukishima supposed he could see why. Which only made him more frustrated about it.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know he shouldn’t have attacked Hinata. Tsukishima knew that perfectly well. But the way that brat—and he was a brat, no matter his age—had just assumed Yamaguchi was some kind of elven slave…

Well, too late now. Yamaguchi was mad and Tsukishima knew that there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. Bringing it up himself wasn’t even an option, not with their present company. And in any case, clearing the air wasn’t really Tsukishima’s best talent. It wasn’t Yamaguchi’s best talent either which is part of what made fights between them a major headache.

Great. Just perfect.

This day was about to get even longer.

At least they were almost at the cottage.

~~~


	2. Chapter 2

They made it to the cottage without any further incident.

“Here it is,” Tsukishima said, “You’re looking for treaties, right? I kind of remember them. They were locked up in the cache with the horribly cast protection spell?”

“Horribly cast to you, maybe. You really are something, Mr. Apostate,” Suga grinned and replied.

Tsukishima eyed the leader of the group suspiciously, but couldn’t get a good read on him at all.

“Well, whatever. All the papers we took from your castle are in a light brown box inside. Wait out here, I’ll get it—“

“No, I’ll get it,” Yamaguchi said, “I want to talk to the Wardens more anyways. You go ahead and get some rest, Tsukki. You used a lot of magic today.”

Tsukishima opened his mouth to argue, but Yamaguchi suddenly sent him a look.

Right, Yamaguchi was still mad at him. Tsukishima resisted the urge to groan. He thought Yamaguchi would at least wait until the strangers were gone to start this power play tug-of-war, but apparently this was the way it was going to be.

Tsukishima relented though. Who retrieved the box hardly seemed worth starting something over.

“Well, okay then,” Tsukishima said, “I’ll be in the herb shack. We still have to finish healing you up.”

Yamaguchi looked like he was going to protest. Mad as he was, Yamaguchi would always be Yamaguchi. A busybody and a worrywart to the last, he probably actually wanted Tsukishima to get his rest. But that wound wouldn’t heal itself and the longer they left it as it was, the worse it was going to be to close up.

Tsukishima didn’t stick around for Yamaguchi to argue. He immediately turned tail and made his way to his herb shack.

 

* * *

 

They called the little shed behind their cottage an herb shack because that was what it was originally meant to be, but they stored a lot of Tsukishima’s potions and poultices in here too. Yamaguchi’s various wood-crafts also occupied a good portion of the tiny room, laying around here or there. Boxes full of candles were tucked away in the far right corner. Boxes full of who-even-knows-what were tucked in the far left corner. The shack was used to store food in the winter as well.

All-in-all Tsukishima supposed it was more of a multi-purpose storage shed.

His first reaction upon entering said multi-purpose shed was to wrinkle up his nose. It didn’t stink inside, per say. But, with all the junk they put in here, it certainly had a _strong_ scent.

He had a list in his head of what he needed. He’d need something for the pain, of course. A relaxant would probably be good. He’d need herbs for a poultice as well, that wound needed to be cleaned and dressed. And, well, Tsukishima _supposed_ he could get something for burns. Like hell he’d help the shrimp apply it, but he could jot the instructions down. They were relatively inexpensive herbs.

Tsukishima started to gather his ingredients and tie them together, his back to the door. He was so caught up in grabbing what he needed that he didn’t even notice someone come into the shed and step behind him.

“Suga said…” a small voice said right as Tsukishima was bending over to grab a small handful of herbs.

Tsukishima whirled around so fast his robes flew up. He couldn’t believe it. There, a foot behind him, was Hinata. Talking to him. Again.

“Is taking a hint a distant concept for you?” Tsukishima asked, incredulous.

Seriously, _how_ was this guy back already? Tsukishima could still see the blood seeping through the bandages helmet-guy had slapped on Hinata’s arm.

“Urk,” Hinata groaned, “Look, I don’t want to either, but Suga said I should apologize so…”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and started to pick up the herbs he’d just bundled.

“Not necessary.”

“B-but…”

“That was your cue to not talk to me, shrimp,” Tsukishima said sharply.

He shoved past Hinata, herbs in hand, and headed for the door. This was beyond awkward and he wanted to be anywhere but here with anyone but this guy.

‘No!” Hinata yelled, lurching forward and grabbing onto the back of Tsukishima’s robe before Tsukishima could make it out.

“What the—“

“I need to apologize,” Hinata continued, “I-I misunderstood…”

“Yeah?” Tsukishima said sarcastically, “You think so?”

“I… lived in a village my entire life and never left until the captain recruited me. This is my first time out. I never even knew about elves except what I’d heard in stories. I thought they were all Dalish, see. You know, the ones that steal children and sacrifice them. I was really, _really_ surprised when I learned how they were treated once I got to camp. Suga told me that all elves in Ferelden were treated like slaves and that only elf Gray Wardens and the Dalish were exceptions to the rule. So… I thought that Yamaguchi was…”

Tsukishima had turned back around while Hinata had been speaking and was now regarding the short little warrior with narrowed eyes.

“You people want something else, don’t you? What? Were the documents not all there? Well, those are all the ones I found so.”

“N-no! It’s not like that, you aren’t listening! I was trying to apologize!” Hinata cried.

“Funny,” Tsukishima said, “I heard a lot of words but no apology.”

Hinata went quiet and fidgeted around a bit before trying again.

“I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“Ugh… For assuming Yamaguchi was your servant. I know now that he’s your friend and it was wrong of me to accuse you like that.”

Tsukishima couldn’t help himself. The tiny Warden’s eyes were downcast and his face was all red—he looked too pathetic to not tease.

“Accuse me like what?” Tsukishima smirked, “Be specific, shrimp.”

“Okay, now I _know_ you’re just messing with me!” Hinata cried, finally raising his head. Tsukishima snorted at how flustered he was getting.

“Whatever,” Tsukishima said, “You should be apologizing to Yamaguchi, if anything. I don’t need it.”

“I already apologized to Yamaguchi. He said the same thing…”

Huh, so Yamaguchi had forgiven the shrimp, had he? Of course he had. He probably had offered his own apology too.

“Ahem,” Hinata coughed, purposely pulling Tsukishima from his thoughts this time.

Hinata stood in front of him with his hand on his hips. He looked impatient, as if waiting for something.

“Hope you’re not expecting an apology on my end,” Tsukishima said, “I regret nothing,”

Immediately Hinata started to bluster around, going off about how Tsukishima really was a jerk after all and he couldn’t believe he bothered and how he really didn’t want to apologize either _so there_.

Tsukishima’s response was to lob one of the herb packages he’d been holding at Hinata.

“Carry those,” Tsukshima ordered and yanked his robe free. He started to make his way back to the cottage, not even bothering to make sure Hinata was doing what he said. If he didn’t, it was his loss anyways.

“Why should I? What if I don’t want to?” Hinata challenged, jogging to keep up with Tsukishima’s much larger stride.

Tsukishima noticed that the herb bundle was safely in his hands though.

 

* * *

 

“There, I carried them back!” Hinata said once they were both inside. He looked oddly proud of himself for doing something so innocuous.

“Wow, amazing. A true hero of our times,” Tsukishima replied, setting his own bundles down onto the kitchen counter.

Hinata stuck his tongue out at Tsukishima and started to move his bundle onto the counter too when Tsukishima stopped him.

“Put those on the kitchen table,” Tsukishima told him, “They’re for something different.”

“You know that I’m only letting you order me around because I still feel bad, right?”

“Sure.”

Hinata stuck his tongue out again but obediently set the herbs onto the table.

It was then that Yamaguchi chose to re-enter.

“Tsukki, I need to talk to—Oh! Hinata, you’re inside?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Yeah, I came in with Tsukishima,” Hinata told him.

“Tsukki let you in?” Yamaguchi asked, surprised.

“Yeah, why?”

“No, nothing. It’s just that Tsukki usually doesn’t trust anyone enough to let them wander around the house…”

Tsukishima pointedly ignored Hinata’s eyes on him and continued to sort the herbs on the counter.

“Did they find their treaties?” Tsukishima directed his question at Yamaguchi.

“Yep, they were all in there,” Yamaguchi replied, “That’s some memory you’ve got, Tsukki. They’re just getting some water and fish at the river for the return trip.”

Good, then they could leave right after Tsukishima was done here.

He got to work, starting the fire and setting the teapot over it. The painkiller was best as a tea. It wasn’t terribly strong but it’d relax Yamaguchi a bit which would make the magic part a little easier—less resistance from the muscle tissue and all that. Tsukishima could feel Hinata watching him as he worked, but ignored it.

“Yamaguchi, you should lay down. I’m going to make the painkiller right now. We’ll start once I’m done,” Tsukishima said.

“I’m fine, Tsukki. I’ll lay down once we start,” Yamaguchi replied.

“Tsk.”

Yamaguchi looked like he wanted to laugh when the herbs sticking out of Hinata’s bundle caught his eye.

“Oh? Those herbs…” he said, making his way to the table.

“What? What about them?” Hinata asked, finally tearing his eyes away from what Tsukishima was doing.

“Hm…”

“Jerk-face made me carry them all the way to the cottage, Yamaguchi!” Hinata whined, “At least tell me what they are!”

Tsukishima wondered when the two of them became such good friends. True, Yamaguchi was personable, but still. They’d been at each other’s necks last time Tsukishima checked.

Well, not like he was one to talk. Yamaguchi was right, it _was_ rare for him to let someone in the house just like that. It was his personal space where he kept all his personal effects. The thought occurred to him that he should kick Hinata out and make him wait outside, but it really wasn’t worth the effort it’d take. The guy was too ridiculously naïve to be dangerous anyways. Besides, Tsukishima had already invited him in so he could stay… so long as he didn’t break anything important.

“They’re used for burn wounds. Crushed up and mixed they make a poultice that cleans open wounds and relieves pain,” Yamaguchi answered Hinata’s question, picking some of the leaves up and examining them. His eyes narrowed in amusement and he shot his friend another look, kinder this time.

“You softy,” Yamaguchi accused Tsukishima silently with his eyes.

Tsukishima pointedly ignored him and continued working.

Hinata wrinkled up his face in confusion.

“Burn wounds? Yamaguchi didn’t get burned! Hey, you made me drag all these in here for nothing, didn’t you?”

Tsukishima felt the sudden and unyielding urge to smash his face into a wall.

“They’re not for Yamaguchi, dumbass.”

“What? Then who are they for? Did someone else get hurt?”

Tsukishima watched Hinata struggle for about three seconds before he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Oh Maker, don’t use up all your brain cells. I’ll save you the trouble: they’re for you.”

Hinata’s eyes went wide and he tilted his head.

“For me?”

Hinata, unbelievably, still had to think it over for a few seconds before it all clicked in his tiny little insect brain.

“… For me! My burn! You’re going to heal my arm!” he exclaimed.

“No, I just thought I would just smear it on your face for a laugh or two. Yes, they’re for your arm. Obviously. You’re going to die of infection before you even make it out of the Wilds if we don’t treat it. Not to mention that bruise on your face and whatever ribs Yamaguchi definitely broke.” Tsukishima replied.

Yamaguchi made an embarrassed sound

“I really am sorry about that, Hinata.”

“It’s okay,” Hinata yelled excitedly, “I guess I kind of deserved it. And it’s not like this is my first time breaking a few ribs. And I’ve been hit in the face waaaay worse than this just wrestling with friends back at home. Tsukishima, you really don’t have much of a punch.”

“Well, then,” Tsukishima deadpanned, “I guess we can just leave off on healing you. You sound like you’re in perfect health.”

Amazingly, he’d half-meant that. Hinata was incredibly mobile and energetic a guy with a burned up arm and at least two or three damaged ribs. If Tsukishima didn’t know better, he’d have thought he _was_ in perfect health.

“What?! No! They hurt, I’m hurt! I really am! You’re going to heal me, right? You’re going to do it with your magic-thingy? You are, right? Man, magic is soooooo cool! You’re so lucky you can do it. Please do some!”

Tsukishima stopped what he was doing and turned to stare incredulously at Hinata. Cool? Lucky?!

Was this guy actually serious?

“You’ll do magic, right Tsukishima?”

“What rock did you crawl out from under?” Tsukishima asked, not able to stop himself. One look at Yamaguchi though and Tsukishima could tell that he was wondering the same thing. Seriously, where did the Wardens find this guy?

Hinata’s face screwed up in anger.

“What’s up with you? Are you really not gonna heal me anymore?”

Tsukishima scoffed and waved Hinata off. It didn’t really concern him which boondock, backwater town Hinata spawned from. He’d be out of his hair soon enough anyways.

“Relax, shrimp. I didn’t waste my time digging out those herbs for nothing. I’ll take care of your injuries before you finally buzz off.”

And just like that, Hinata’s smile, intense and blinding, was back so fast Tsukishima almost got whiplash.

“Thank you!” Hinata yelled, jumping up and down.

“Whatever. It’s only because if you die in this area, I’ll have to clean up your corpse before it starts to attract darkspawn. And your little Gray Warden friends might come after me.”

“Thank you anyways!”

“Don’t get all overexcited, Yamaguchi’s still going first so you’ll have to wait your turn.”

“OOOHHHH! Can I watch?!”

“Stop yelling…”

Yamaguchi watched Tsukishima and Hinata’s exchange bemusedly. He sent a soft, knowing smile Tsukishima’s way which Tsukishima once again pretended not to see, turning his attention back to his work.

“Tsukki, I’m going to let the others in in that case. Kageyama and Tanaka are still outside, they didn’t go to the river. We can’t ask them to wait out there forever.”

Tsukishima winced at the thought. Hinata being inside couldn’t be helped since he needed to be healed, but the others…

“Yeah, ok,” he relented before adding, “But the Templar stays outside.”

That was non-negotiable. Tsukishima didn’t care one bit if the man was a Gray Warden now, he was a Templar.

Yamaguchi nodded in understanding.

“I wasn’t planning on letting Kageyama in anyways, but I’ll get him some water at least.”

With that, Yamaguchi grabbed a water-skin hanging on the wall and went back outside to tell the other Wardens to come in. Before he left, he shot Tsukishima yet another look. This one wasn’t angry or amused, it was… hard. Determined. And sad? Tsukishima didn’t know what to make of it, but before he could even consider asking, Yamaguchi was already out the door.

Well, Tsukishima was pretty sure Yamaguchi wasn’t mad anymore so at least that was something.

“Hey, can I ask a question?” Hinata asked after he finally stopped bouncing around.

“No.”

“Why won’t you let Kageyama in? He’s a jerk, I would know, but he’s never done anything to you.”

“Ugh,” Tsukishima groaned. He _really_ didn’t want to talk about it.

“Fine, you can have _one_ question, but not that one. I won’t be responsible for educating a moron. If you don’t already know, you will soon enough. Next.”

Hinata frowned but seemed to sense that he was pushing his luck again and decided to move on.

Well, well, he knew how to take a hint after all.

“Why do we need the herbs? Why can’t you just heal it with magic?” Hinata asked after some contemplation.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue and decided to kindly not point out that that was two questions. Typical warrior, thinking magic was some miracle from the Maker and could do anything just like that.

“Magic isn’t some cure-all, end-all solution. The ribs and the bruise will be easy enough and we can get them done once I finish making this tea. It’s that burn that’ll be the problem, that’s going to get infected if we don’t do something. Getting all the infection out with magic takes energy and I might miss something. Cleaning and dressing the wound are more surefire ways of getting things done. You can’t do that in the middle of battle for obvious reasons, but we’re not in the middle of battle which means we have time to do it this way.”

Tsukishima stopped talking to scoop out two cups of the herbal tea—one for Yamaguchi and one for the annoying one—and set them aside to cool before continuing.

“Besides, healing hurts you know? I’m cleaning out a wound and stitching up the damage in a fraction of the time it’s supposed to take--that stings like a bitch. If I clean out the infection first, it’ll take some of the edge off the pain.”

Tsukishima smirked before continuing.

“Maybe then you won’t cry like a baby when I heal it.”

“Hey!”

 

* * *

 

Hinata whined all the way through the healing process. Shocker.

 

* * *

 

“That really hurt, Jerkshima.”

“Noted. Now hurry up and pack up. Your friends are already waiting for you outside.”

“Oh yeah! We better hurry, we have to make it back in time for the battle too.”

Tsukishima processed that.

“The battle?” he asked, “Is that tonight?”

Of course he’d known that an army was gathering at Ostagar to fight off the darkspawn, but a battle already? They didn’t have anywhere near enough troops yet, did they? Not that Tsukishima knew much about wartime tactics. Still, he was pretty sure that wasn’t enough soldiers to march against anything, let alone a hoard.

“Yep! My first one!” Hinata replied, excited, “We’re going to have the Joining tonight too. We’ll be killing two birds with one stone!”

“Heh, what an apt line for it,” Tsukishima muttered.

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Tsukishima bit his lip and watched Hinata check his pack. It was just the two of them in the house. Yamaguchi was outside, chatting up the other Wardens. He felt a heavy feeling settle in his stomach as he watched Hinata double check the bag’s contents. This guy didn’t know the first thing about the Wardens, did he? And it was highly unlikely he’d ever been in a war either, not with his attitude.

“Hey, shrimp,” Tsukishima called out to Hinata, surprising himself. He hadn’t really planned out what to say. Still, watching someone this unsuspecting march off unwittingly to his death without saying anything seemed too cold even for him. Just listening to Hinata talk about the Joining in such an upbeat way had left a bad taste in Tsukishima’s mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Think…think carefully about the Joining. I can’t tell you what it is because I’m pretty sure Gray Wardens _do_ kill people for that, but I’ll clue you in: it’s nothing good. In fact, it’s practically a death sentence. It’s too late to back out once it starts, but you could still leave now if you really tried.”

Hinata looked at him, confused.

“Why would I back out?”

And there it was again. That creepy, unblinking look was on Hinata’s face again.

“This is everything I’ve always wanted. I don’t care what test they give me, I’m ready for it.”

Hinata’s stared straight into Tsukishima’s eyes and Tsukishima found that he couldn’t hold the gaze. He looked away and sighed. Well, he’d tried.

“Go on then, they’re all waiting.”

The look slid off of Hinata’s face just like that. He gasped, threw the pack over his shoulder, and hopped over to the door, but then paused.

“Yamaguchi gave me his name, but I never got your first name. You only gave us a family name, right? Unless Tsukishima is your first name…”

Tsukishima, to his own shock, almost gave it to him on instinct. Names held power, but he almost trusted Hinata with his, stopping himself only at the last minute.

“Idiot,” Tsukishima said instead, “As if I’m giving my name to some weirdo who attacked me twice.”

_As if I’m going to do something useless like introduce myself to a dead man._

Hinata didn’t look too bothered by his response, only rolling his eyes before retorting.

“Well my first name is Shouyou! Shouyou Hinata And I’m going to be the greatest hero there ever was. I’ll come back after the battle and get your name then, okay?”

And with that, he was gone.

“Come back after the battle?” Tsukishima muttered, “ _Sure_ you will.”

There was no doubt in Tsukishima’s mind that that was the last he’d ever see of Hinata Shouyou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ding dong you're wrong

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think! The next chapter wraps the misunderstanding up and ends the Kocari Wilds arc.


End file.
